Side Loading Rack and Protective Curtain

ABSTRACT

A side loading rack for holding multiple components, which rack includes a rigid open frame, a matrix of side loading storage bins and a flexible curtain for protecting the contents of the bins from dust and contamination. The flexible curtain drops down from the top of the frame and includes multiple spaced guide assemblies, the ends of which are movable within guide tracks located on vertical members of the rigid frame. A flexible strap attached to the top of the curtain is used to affect vertical movement of the curtain.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rack for holding components in amatrix of storage bins and, more particularly, to a rack for holdingcomponents, such as industrial components, in side loading bins of therack so as to facilitate quick and easy access to the components whileprotecting those components from dust and contamination.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is now common practice to load components and, particularly,industrial components such as components of a motor vehicle, in atransportable storage rack. Many of these racks comprise a rigid openframe within which there is mounted a matrix of rows and columns ofstorage compartments or bins made from fabric material, each compartmentor bin of which holds a single component preparatory to it being used toassemble an industrial product. Many of these transportable storageracks having the rows and columns of side loading storage compartmentsor bins include a curtain over the open side of the storage bin toprotect those bins and the components stored therein from dust and otherindustrial contamination until such time as the rack is ready forunloading. Commonly, these curtains or covers flip up or slideside-to-side to expose the open side of the bins for loading andunloading of products into and from the bins. One such cover or curtainwhich rolls up on a window shade style of roller is disclosed, forexample, in Published U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0012005.

A problem with these side-to-side or flip-up or roll-up-type covers isthat in some instances, they protrude past the side profile of the rackand therefore require additional floor space or they may separate and betorn off when open. Another often encountered problem is that thesecurtains interfere with part loading and unloading, or, at the veryleast, reduce usable side open space of the rack.

It has been an objective of this invention to overcome these prior artproblems with a side opening loading rack and protective curtain whichaccomplishes these objectives at a minimal cost for the curtain and itsresulting protection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the practice of this invention, there is provided a sideloading rack for holding multiple components within dunnage in the formof rows and columns of flexible fabric storage bins located within arigid open frame of the rack. A flexible curtain for protecting thecontents of the bins is located on one side of the frame and is operableto drop down from the top of the frame over the open side of the bins.This curtain includes multiple vertically spaced guide assemblies, theends of which are movable within guide tracks located on verticalmembers of a rigid frame. A flexible strap attached to the top of thecurtain is movable over a bracket at the top of the frame to affectvertical movement of the curtain. At the bottom of the rigid frame,there is a locking bracket for securing the strap to the bottom of therigid frame with the curtain in a raised position protective of thecontents of the rack.

The primary advantage of this invention resides in the fact that itprovides a very simply operated curtain which is protective of thecontents of the rack and which relies upon gravity to affect opening ofthe curtain to expose the contents of the rack and which facilitateclosing of the curtain by simply pulling on a strap attached to the topof the curtain to close it. It also has the advantage of not blockingthe side opening of the rack when the curtain is in the fully openedposition so that it in no way interferes with component loading orunloading.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be mademore readily apparent from the following description of the drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rack incorporating the invention ofthis application with the curtain of the rack in the fully closedposition;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but with the curtain partially open;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but with the curtain fully open;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the curtain of the rack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the curtain of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view, partially in phantom, of the endof a curtain guide assembly movable within a track of a vertical framemember of the rigid frame;

FIG. 6A is an enlarged perspective view, partially in phantom, of theend of a curtain guide assembly movable within a track secured to avertical frame member of the rigid frame in accordance with analternative embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view like FIG. 7 of the embodiment shown inFIG. 6A;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the lower portion of thecontrol strap when the curtain is fully raised; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the roller at the top of therigid frame over which the control strap is movable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference now to FIGS. 1-3, there is illustrated the side loadingrack 5 which includes a rigid frame 10, a matrix 12 (see FIGS. 2 and 3)of side loading compartments or bins 14 and a protective curtain 16 forcovering and protecting the open side of those bins 14.

With particular reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the rigidframe 10 comprises a rectangular upper horizontal frame 18, arectangular lower horizontal frame 20 and a plurality of vertical framemembers 22, 24, 26 and 28 interconnecting the upper and lower horizontalframes 18, 20.

The upper horizontal frame 18 comprises a pair of side frame members 30,32, a rear frame member 34 and a front frame member 36. Similarly, thelower horizontal frame 20 comprises a pair of opposed side members 38, arear member 40, and a front member 42, all interconnected at the cornersto form the rectangular lower horizontal frame 20. The lower frame 20may be reinforced by cross frame members, one of which is shown as 44.Similarly, the sides of the rigid frame 10 may be reinforced by sidecross members 48 extending between the vertical corner frame members.Similarly, the rear of the frame 10 may be reinforced by a rear crossmember (not shown). All of these frame members mentioned above may bemade from metal tubing, metal angle iron or any other suitable material.In the illustrated embodiment, these frame members are all square tubingmembers. Other configurations or designs of racks may be used inaccordance with the present invention.

In order to facilitate movement of the rigid frame 10 with its contentsbetween stations in a manufacturing facility, or between facilities, therigid frame 10 is mounted upon corner casters 54 which include wheels56. These casters or wheels enable the rack 10 to be easily transportedbetween various locations. If desired other means of transport may beincorporated into the rigid frame 10 to enable it to be easily moved.

Located within the upper horizontal frame 18, there are a plurality ofbin matrix supports or members 60 which engage, extend between and aresupported from opposing frame members 34 and 36 of the upper horizontalframe 16. As explained more fully hereinafter, each of these supports 60supports one vertical fabric element of the matrix 12 of storage bins14. However, other configurations or designs of supports 60 may be used.

With reference now to FIGS. 1-3, and particularly to FIG. 3, it will beseen that the matrix 12 of storage bins, known in the industry generallyas dunnage, comprises a plurality of bins 14 arranged in parallel rowsand columns. Other known types of dunnage include pouches which may bemoveable inside the rack or fixed in one location. In accordance withthis invention, any configuration, style or type of dunnage may be used.

Each bin 14 comprises a pair of opposed side walls 64, a bottom wall 66and a top wall 68. The side walls 64 are all defined by vertical sheetsof fabric which extend from the top of the matrix 12 to the bottom.Fabric top and bottom walls extend between these vertical walls and aresewn or otherwise secured as by fabric welding to the vertical walls, soas to define cells, spaces or areas for components, parts or products tobe placed within the bins and to protect the components from contactwith other components in adjacent bins during shipment or transport. Itwill also be noted that each of the vertical walls, except for the sideedgemost walls, functions as a side wall for two horizontally adjacentcompartments and each bottom wall, except for the topmost and bottommostwalls, function as a bottom wall for one bin and a top wall for the nextadjacent lower bin. At the top of each of the interior vertical sheetsof fabric, which define the side walls 64, there is a flap or loop 70(FIGS. 1-3) sewn, welded or otherwise defined along the top edge of eachof these sheets of fabric. The supports 60 extending across the upperhorizontal frame 18 extend through these loops 70, so as to support thematrix of bins suspended from the supports 60. As shown in FIG. 1, atthe outer upper edges of matrix 12, there are two sets of three fabricsheets which terminate at the top in loops 69 a, b, c and 71 a, b, c.The endmost supports 60 at each end of the plurality of supports 60extend through those loops 69 a, b, c and 71 a, b, c to support theouter edge of bin matrix 12.

The top and bottom walls 66, 68 of the storage bins 14 may be eitherflexible fabric only or may be a rigid material as, for example, a rigidsheet of plastic. Whether these top and bottom walls of cells or storagebins 14 are flexible or rigid will depend upon the application and theweight of the components to be placed in the bins, as well as the degreeof protection required for such components.

With reference now to FIGS. 1-3, 4 and 5, there is illustrated thefabric curtain 16 which protects the contents of the bins 14 when thatcurtain 16 is raised or enables those contents or components to beaccessed when the fabric curtain 16 is lowered. With particularreference first to FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the fabriccurtain 16 is generally rectangular and sized so as to cover the openside of the rack 10 between the vertical side frame members 24, 26, thefront frame member 36 of the upper horizontal frame 18, and the frontframe member 42 of the lower horizontal frame 20. At its upper edge, thecurtain 16 has a loop 72 sewn or otherwise formed as by welding of thefabric. See FIGS. 4 and 5. Similarly, formed at equidistant spaces alongthe vertical length of the fabric, there are four additional loops 74,76, 78 and 80 formed in the fabric, again by sewing, welding or anyother conventional fabric connecting technique. See FIG. 5. Each ofthese loops 74, 76, 78 and 80 extends horizontally for the completewidth of the curtain 16. Although five loops 72, 74, 76, 78 and 80 areillustrated in FIG. 5, the curtain may have any number of loops,depending on its size.

As seen in FIG. 5, along the curtain's lowermost edge, there is a rigidbar 79 fixedly attached to the lower edge of the curtain 16 as by beingsewn therein or otherwise attached to the bottom edge of the fabric.This lower rod or bar 79 also extends for the full width of the fabriccurtain 16 but may be any desired length or configuration. Analternative to a rigid bar 79 such as a rod may used, for example.

A curtain guide assembly 82 is located within each of the loops 72, 74,76, 78 and 80 of the curtain 16 as shown in FIG. 6. Each guide assembly82 extends horizontally for the full length of the loop from one side ofthe curtain 16 to the other and even beyond the side edges 84, 86 of thecurtain 16. The end portions, ends or end members of each guide assembly82 extends through vertical slots or tracks 88 (see FIG. 6) betweenvertical elements 93, 95. The vertical elements 93, 95 are shown assquare tubes in cross section but may be other configurations. In oneembodiment, each end of each of the guide assemblies 82 is fitted with ahub or washer 90 on the outside of the vertical elements or posts 93,95. These hubs 90 are secured to the ends of the guide assemblies 82 bya cotter pin 94 which extends through a small diametral bore in the endsof the guide assemblies 82. The hub 90 is thus captured between thevertical members 93, 95 and vertical side frame member 24 on one side offrame 10 along with vertical members 93, 95 and vertical side framemember 26 on the opposite side of frame 10. Thereby, the guideassemblies 82, with the curtain 16 attached thereto, are able to slideup and down in the slots or tracks 88 between the vertical posts 93, 95.See FIG. 6.

With reference to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it will be seenthat each of the vertical frame members 24, 26 at the front of the rack5 in fact comprises three vertical elements, a vertical outer tube 24,and a pair of vertical tube members 93, 95 defining a slot or trackway88 therebetween. The vertical tube members 93, 95 are welded orotherwise secured to the inside surface 21 of the vertical side framemember 24 or 26 with spaced apart plates 96 such that an opening 89exists between the tube members 93, 95 and the vertical frame member 24or 26. The ends of the curtain supporting guide assemblies 82 includingthe attached washers 80 are movable in the opening 89. See FIGS. 6 and7.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A.In this embodiment, each of the vertical frame members 24, 26 of therigid frame 10 has a track 122 secured to an inside surface 124 of thevertical frame member with fasteners 123. Any other suitable means ofsecuring the track 122 to a vertical frame member may be used inconnection with the present invention. Each track 122 is a unitarymember having a pair of opposed sidewalls 126 joined by a connectingwall 128. Each of the sidewalls 126 has a lip 129, the lips 129extending towards each other. Each track 122 has an interior 130 whichis sized to receive and retain a portion or head of an end member 132 ofa guide assembly 134 as described below. Although one configuration oftrack 122 is illustrated and described, any other form of retainer ortrack may be used in accordance with the present invention, such as agroove in the vertical frame members 24, 26 of the rigid frame 10, forexample.

As seen in FIGS. 6A and 7A, guide assembly 134 comprises a pair ofopposing end members 132 and a middle member 136 therebetween. Each ofthe end members 132 comprises an outer head 138 and an inner head 140.The heads 138, 140 are spaced from one another to define a groove 142therebetween which receives and retains the lips 129 of the sidewalls126 of the track 122. The outer head 138 is located and moves inside theinterior of the track 122. The inner head 140 is located outside theinterior 130 of the track 122 and prevents the material of the curtain16 from entering the interior 130 of the track 122. A connecting portion141 of end member 132 having an X-shaped cross-sectional configurationand joining portion 143 are both located and secured inside the middlemember 136 of the guide assembly 134 in a manner described below. Eachend member 132 is preferably made of injection molded plastic, but maybe made of any suitable lightweight material.

The middle member 136 of each guide assembly 134 comprises a tubularsupport having a hollow interior 137 which fits over the portions 141and 143 of the end members 132. The tubular middle member 136 ispreferably made of metal, but may be made of any suitable lightweightmaterial such as various plastics. Although one configuration of guideassembly is illustrated, the present invention may be used with anyother type or configuration of guide assembly.

As shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, the joining portion 143 of end member 132may have a groove 144 formed therein and the tubular middle member 136may have a hole 146 therein which receives a fastener 148. The fastener148 passes through a grommet 150 surrounding an opening in the curtain16 to prevent separation of the curtain 16 from the guide assembly 132.Although the fastener is illustrated as being a screw, it may be anyother suitable fastener. The fasteners may move within the groove 144 inthe end member 132 and thereby allows some movement of the curtain 16relative to the end members 132 of the guide assemblies 134.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 8, it will be seen that the lower edge ofthe curtain 16, with its attached rigid bar 79, is attached or otherwisefixed to the front lower frame member 42, as by straps or wire loops 98.Of course, any other conventional connector may be used in lieu ofstraps or wire loops 98 to fixedly secure the lower edge of the curtain16 to the lower horizontal frame member 42 of the lower horizontal frame20.

In order to enable the curtain 16 to be raised and lowered relative tothe open side of the rack 5, there is a flexible strap 100 fixedlyattached to the upper edge 102 of the curtain 16. As may be seen mostclearly in FIG. 8, the strap 100 has a loop 104 formed therein. Withreference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the fabric strap 100 is longerthan the height of the curtain 16. Consequently, when the curtain is inits fully open position, or lowermost position with the open side of therack 5 fully exposed so as to enable components to be inserted orremoved from the bins 14 of the rack 5, as shown in FIG. 3, the strap100 extends from the top 102 of the curtain 16, which is now at thebottom of the rack, upwardly for the full height of the rack 5 to andaround a roller 112 of a bracket 114 secured to the upper horizontalframe member 36. See FIGS. 3 and 9. To raise the curtain 16, all that isrequired is for the operator to grasp the free end of strap 100 as, forexample, the loop 104 of the strap 100 and pull the strap 100downwardly, thereby causing the upper edge 102 of the curtain with itssupporting rod 82 within loop 72 to be raised, followed by all of theother guide assemblies 82 within the loops 74, 76, 78 and 80 until thecurtain 16 is at the topmost position illustrated in FIG. 1. When thecurtain 16 is in this topmost closed position of the open side of therack 5, as shown in FIG. 1, the loop 104 on the end of the strap 100 maybe placed within a generally U-shaped bracket 120, welded or otherwisesecured at one end 108 to the lower frame member 42 of the lowerhorizontal frame 20 of rack 5. The opposite end 110 of the bracket isspaced from the frame member 42 so that the loop 104 of the strap may bepassed through the gap between the end 110 of the bracket 120 and theframe member 42 and secured thereby to the bracket.

When the time comes to lower the curtain 16 from its raised positionshown in FIG. 1, all that is required is for an operator to remove theloop 104 formed in the strap 100 from the lowermost bracket 120 andallow gravity to cause the curtain 16 to drop downwardly. As the curtain16 drops downwardly, folds are formed in the curtain (see FIG. 2)between adjacent guide assemblies 82 contained within the loops 72, 74,76, 78 and 80. If at any time it is desired to maintain the curtain 16in a position other than either a fully open or fully closed position,the strap 100 may be wrapped around the upper frame member 36 and tiedthereto as illustrated in FIG. 2.

With reference now to FIG. 8, it will be seen that there is a small loop116 formed in the end of the strap 100 immediately above the lower andlarger end loop 104. A common threaded closure chain link 118 iscontained within this smaller loop 114. In the course of assembly of therack 5 and curtain 16, the free end of the strap 100 is first passedover the roller or pulley 112, after which the threaded closure chainlink 118 is inserted into the smaller end loop 116 and the threadedsleeve portion of the link 118 threaded onto the threaded portion of theshaft of the link 118 to close the link and thereby secure the chainlink to the end of the strap 100. Due to large size of the link 118compared to the smaller space between the roller 112 and horizontalframe member 36 as shown in FIG. 9, the link 118 acts as a stop toprevent the end of the strap 100 from pulling through the roller orpulley 112 when the curtain 16 is lowered to a fully open position. Ofcourse, other forms of stops could readily be used to serve this samefunction.

While we have described only a single preferred embodiment of ourinvention, persons skilled in this art will appreciate numerous changesand modifications which may be made without departing from the spirit ofour invention. For example, the bins 14 of the matrix 12 of bins may bemade without a fixed rear fabric wall with the result that both ends ofthe bin are open. In that event, two curtains, one on each side of therack, could be utilized to control opening and closing of either end ofthe bin. Therefore, we do not intend to be limited except by the scopeof the following appended claims.

1. A rack for holding multiple components, said rack comprising: a rigidframe having a plurality of upper horizontal frame members and aplurality of lower horizontal frame members interconnected by aplurality of vertical members to form an open rigid frame; a matrix ofstorage bins located within said open rigid frame, each of said binshaving a pair of opposed side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall, thefront of each of said bins being open for the open side loading of acomponent therein; a vertically movable flexible curtain mounted upon afront side of said rigid frame, said curtain being attached at a bottomedge to a front one of the plurality of lower horizontal members of saidrigid frame; and a flexible strap for controlling vertical movement ofsaid curtain, said strap being attached to a top edge of said curtainand movable over a bracket member attached to one of the upperhorizontal members of said rigid frame.
 2. The rack of claim 1 whereinsaid bracket member includes a roller over which said strap is movable.3. The rack of claim 1 wherein said flexible curtain includes aplurality of spaced guide assemblies attached thereto, said ends of saidguide assemblies being movable within vertical tracks located in a pairof said vertical members of said rigid frame.
 4. The rack of claim 3wherein said flexible curtain forms horizontal folds in said curtainbetween said guide assemblies as said curtain is lowered to expose theopen front of said bins.
 5. The rack of claim 1 wherein said opposedside, top and bottom walls of said matrix of storage bins aremanufactured from fabric material.
 6. The rack of claim 5 wherein saidmatrix of storage bins is suspended from rigid frame rods extendingbetween a pair of said upper horizontal frame members.
 7. A side loadingrack for storage of multiple components, said rack including: a rigidopen frame; a matrix of side loading storage bins contained within saidrigid open frame; a flexible curtain for protecting an open side of saidstorage bins from contamination, said curtain being fixedly secured atthe bottom to said rigid frame and operable to drop down from the top ofthe frame to expose the open side of said bin for loading and unloadingof components; and a flexible strap attached to the top of said curtainfor controlling vertical movement of said curtain.
 8. The side loadingrack of claim 7 wherein said flexible strap is movable over a bracketattached to an upper portion of said rigid frame.
 9. The side loadingrack of claim 8 wherein said bracket includes a roller over which saidstrap is movable.
 10. The rack of claim 7 wherein said flexible curtainincludes a plurality of vertically spaced guide assemblies attachedthereto, said ends of said guide assemblies being movable withinvertical tracks located in said rigid open frame.
 11. The rack of claim10 wherein said flexible curtain forms horizontal folds in said curtainbetween said guide assemblies as said curtain is lowered to expose theopen front of said bins.
 12. The rack of claim 7 wherein said bins eachinclude opposed side, top and bottom walls manufactured from fabricmaterial.
 13. The rack of claim 7 wherein said bins each include opposedside, top, bottom and rear walls manufactured from fabric material. 14.The rack of claim 7 wherein said matrix of storage bins is suspendedfrom supports extending between a pair of upper horizontal frame membersof said rigid open frame.
 15. A rack for holding multiple components,said rack comprising: a rigid frame having a plurality of plurality ofvertical members; dunnage located within said rigid frame for storingcomponents during shipment; a vertically movable flexible curtainmounted upon a front side of said rigid frame, said curtain beingattached at a bottom edge to a horizontal member of said rigid frame;and a flexible strap for controlling vertical movement of said curtain,said strap being attached to a top edge of said curtain and movable overa bracket member attached to another upper horizontal member of saidrigid frame.
 16. The rack of claim 15 wherein said flexible curtainincludes a plurality of guide assemblies attached thereto, said ends ofsaid guide assemblies being movable within tracks secured to saidvertical members of said rigid frame.
 17. The rack of claim 16 whereineach of said guide assemblies includes a pair of end members engagedwith said tracks and a middle member extending between said end members.18. The rack of claim 15 wherein a portion of each of said guideassemblies resides in a loop in the flexible curtain.
 19. The rack ofclaim 17 wherein said end members are plastic.
 20. The rack of claim 17wherein each of said end members has a head residing and movable withinone of the tracks.
 21. A rack for holding multiple components, said rackcomprising: a rigid frame having a plurality of plurality of verticalmembers; dunnage located within said rigid frame for storing componentsduring shipment; a vertically movable flexible curtain mounted upon afront side of said rigid frame, said curtain being attached at a bottomedge to a horizontal member of said rigid frame; and a plurality ofguide assemblies attached to said flexible curtain, end portions of saidguide assemblies being movable within tracks secured to said verticalmembers of said rigid frame.
 22. The rack of claim 21 wherein said rackcomprising a flexible strap for controlling vertical movement of saidcurtain, said strap being attached to a top edge of said curtain andmovable over a bracket member attached to another upper horizontalmember of said rigid frame.
 23. The rack of claim 21 wherein said eachof said guide assemblies comprises a pair of end members engaged withsaid tracks and a middle member extending between said end members.